May 27, 2010

Laird of Dalnair 8x32 R

1- 8 1st couple cross right hand and cast off 1 place. 2nd couple step up on bars 3 and 4. 1st couple dance a ½ figure of eight up through the 2nd couple.

9-12 1st, 2nd and 3rd couples dance set and link for three.

13-16 1st, 2nd and 3rd couples dance set and link for three but as 2nd man and 3rd lady dance forwards on the last two bars they dance a half left hand turn so that 2nd man finishes facing up and 3rd lady finishes facing down. 2nd lady casts to finish in the middle of the set facing up and 3rd man casts to finish in the middle of the set facing down. 1st couple cast as normal to 2nd place on the opposite side of the dance. See fig

Top

3M
2M
1L 1M
3L
2L

17-24 1st, 2nd and 3rd couples dance a "weasel reel of four":
As 3rd lady gets to the end of the reel of four, she dances clockwise for 4 bars and joins the other end of the reel of four for the last 2 bars. She is replaced in the reel of four by 1st man who joins the reel letting 3rd lady dance out in front of him, and leaves the reel of four to chase, leaving the reel in front of 3rd lady. Likewise 2nd man dances clockwise from the end of the reel and is replaced by 1st lady, with 1st lady leaving the reel in front of 2nd man. 2nd lady and 3rd man dance a full reel of four. All finish the reel of four where they started.

25-28 3rd and 2nd men and 3rd and 2nd ladies dance ½ a right hand turn and face that person. While 2nd man and 3rd lady set, their partners using pas de basque pull back right shoulder to change places in the middle. (This is the same movement as would be found in double triangles to change sides).
2nd and 3rd couples dance a petronella turn out to their own side of the dance.

1st couple take 6 bars to chase clockwise through the couples (1st man through the 3rd couple and 1st lady through the 2nd couple) to finish in 2nd place on their own side.

31-32 All 3 couples taking hands set on the sidelines.

Devised by Alasdair Brown (alasdairglrbrown [at] btinternet.com)

Tune: "The High Drive" by Gordon Duncan

This dance is dedicated to Alan Munro. He lives at Dalnair farm and has been affectionately called "The Laird of Dalnair".

Posted by ldfs at May 27, 2010 1:28 PM

Comments

We danced this in Santa Cruz, California on Saturday 5/30, and found bars 17-32 to be quite challenging. The "weasel reel" is not a familiar figure to us, so required close attention, and the following final eight bars were unusual too. This combination accounted for the difficulties we experienced. Still, we really liked it once we "got" it. I'd love to hear the Gordon Duncan tune, as his are always great. I used "The Wellington Reel" from the CD "12 Scottish Country Dances devised by Mervin Short" recorded by Green Ginger, which worked very well.

Posted by: Paula Jacobson at May 31, 2010 4:18 PM

We tried this out this past Thursday, 01.07.2010 in a combined class with some less experienced dancers. Thus we danced this in Strathspey time. We found the dance quite interresting and because of the slower tempo we managed bars 9-32 amazingly well. Perhaps one more try in Strathspey time and then we'll progress to Reel time.